


Shenanigans

by FancyMeetingYouHere



Category: GOT7
Genre: Arachnophobia, Fluff, M/M, Soft Boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:25:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23140132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancyMeetingYouHere/pseuds/FancyMeetingYouHere
Summary: Mark is scared of spiders. Luckily, he has a roommate to help him out.
Relationships: Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang
Comments: 22
Kudos: 97





	Shenanigans

**Author's Note:**

> I keep writing these little things in between working on my longer stories and then I post them as a sort of apology for taking so long. I'm truly grateful to everyone for waiting!!! You all are the best!!
> 
> In the meantime, I've had this little thing stuck in my head since the time I watched Markson on ASC and Mark said his greatest fear is spiders. (and then Eric asked what he did in the dorm if he saw one and Mark 'pretended' to see a spider and pointed at the wall and went 'Jackson!', which, honestly, how is JACKSON the one he turns to??? I love it so much) Little fyi; I have a pretty bad fear of spiders myself, so all the reactions in here are 100% taken from real life ... hope you can all still enjoy!!

Jackson Wang is the sweetest person alive, yet Mark seems to be the only one to know this. It’s a mystery how the rest of the world missed it, though Mark supposes sharing a room with the guy gives him somewhat of an advantage what with the insider knowledge he acquires on a near-daily basis. Like right now, when Mark comes back from a late lecture, thoughts of instant-ramen dinner on his mind, only to turn on the light and find a spider easily the size of his palm sat on the wall a mere inch above the head of his bed.

Mark screams when he sees it; very loud and remarkably high. Then he stands frozen in place for at least a minute to try and figure out how to deal with the eight-legged monstrosity now that calling his sister or mom is no longer an option. Of all the things he dreaded when moving out, spiders somehow hadn’t been that high on his list. Eyeing the long black legs with a shudder, he realizes it should have been.

He can’t leave, because what if the spider moves and hides somewhere and- just, no. That leaves the option of calling someone to ask if they can come over to take care of … _this._ Mark bites his lip, too scared to look at it, but even more terrified to take his eyes off it, before deciding to throw his dignity to the wind and call Jaebeom. His friend lives in the dorm building across from his, and hopefully doesn’t have any late classes.

Just as he takes out his phone, eyes firmly on the wall a bit _above_ the terrifying arachnid (it blurs the creepiness of the legs but also keeps it in sight), the door behind Mark opens and he jumps. He also screams. Again.

Jackson screams as well. Very Loudly. At Mark. It’s a bit of a mess.

“Jesus! Mark, what the hell?” Jackson closes the door, holding his heart and regarding Mark with a betrayed look. The other probably just came from fencing practice judging from the damp hair and sweatpants/hoodie combination.

Mark blushes, _hard_. Then realizes he took his eyes off _it_ , and quite possibly squeaks in fear. He snaps his head back, relieved to find the black creature still sitting in the same spot, only to immediately blanch in fear and embarrassment because Jackson is still standing behind him and Mark might have some serious arachnophobia going on. Wanting to run and hide but having to stay because of the stupid spider draws a low groan out of Mark’s throat. Why did this have to happen _now!_

Jackson steps around him at his silence, eyes cutting to the wall, then back to Mark. He frowns. “Are you okay?”

The spider is big, Mark’s heart thundering in misplaced fear and trembles running across his back, yet he tries to conjure a smile.

“Fine,” he lies. Badly. His voice cracks, eyes flitting to the spider from hell every second as he tries and fails to look at Jackson. The other nods slowly, turning to look at the spider and placing his bag at the foot of his own bed in the same movement.

“Can I ask you something?” He says casually while Mark can only nod a red face as he can’t stop his laser-focus. The spider is giant, the hairs on its legs and body visible in the harsh light and Mark is trying desperately to hide how much his hands have started to tremble, heart practically galloping in his chest.

Mark hates spiders, but he hates his stupid and irrational fear of them even more. Especially when someone is present to witness said fear.

Jackson gives him a soft look. “Mark, are you afraid of spiders?”

His first thought is to lie, but considering he’s been staring at the horrid thing on the wall for this entire interaction with what is probably an expression of uncontrollable horror, Mark figures the question is more for show than anything else. His stomach sinks when he slowly nods, ears now steaming from embarrassment. “Kinda,” he mumbles, eyes still switching from the wall to Jackson and back.

The other quirks an eyebrow at him, something that might be a laugh but doesn’t feel judgmental flitting across his face. “Would you like me to put it outside?”

Instant relief floods Mark’s limbs, physically making him sag as he turns desperate eyes to the other. “You could do that?” To which Jackson smiles brilliantly, face lighting up, and Mark swears his cheeks catch fire. Why did his cute roommate have to find out about his embarrassingly bad arachnophobia a mere three weeks after classes started.

Mark shoots his eyes to the wall again (don’t look at _it_ ) and stutters, hands now hiding in his sleeves. “I mean, yes- uh, please. If you could.”

“Sure,” Jackson smiles. He walks toward the spider, hands out immediately, and Mark’s stomach swoops as he watches the other reach out.

“Wait!” he yells, possibly a bit loud, but fear drives his heart into overdrive. “Don’t you need something?” He eyes the eight giant legs, nauseated by how close Jackson already is to touching them.

The other looks back, confused. “Uhm, no? I just pick it up and put it outside?”

The room sways, sweat on the back of Mark’s neck. “Pick it-” he swallows, a shiver running down his spine. “You pick it _up_. With your _hands?”_

Jackson blinks at him. “Yes?”

Right. Mark swallows again. That’s fine. He eyes the spider, suddenly wishing his sister would burst through the door with a cup and some cardboard to whisk the damn thing away. They never used a glass back home either, always something Mark wouldn’t be able to see through. Because if there’s anything he’s scared off more than simply seeing a spider, it’s seeing a spider _move_.

_Legs._

Which, fun fact, Mark has to see someone put the spider outside, or possibly kill it if there’s really no other way. It’s some sort of unresolved trust-issue he’s trying to work through which comes down to him needing to see the spider be removed, or his brain won’t be convinced it’s actually gone and then it’s bye-bye sleep.

It's the worst trait ever, Mark is aware.

For the moment, it means he’s this close to screaming because Jackson is about to hold _that_ in his bare hands, which means it’ll walk around, which means Mark’ll _see_ it walk around, which means Mark is definitely going to scream at some point.

He might as well just do it now and get it over with. Only it’s not really a scream, more like a low whimper. Jackson immediately looks alarmed.

“Should I not?” he hides his hands behind his back, wide-eyed. “Because you’re looking really white and-” He moves closer to the spider, his shadow falling on the black arachnid. With a speed that’s simply nightmare-fodder, it sprints along the wall, its long legs scurrying in sync.

_Legs._

Mark yells, flinches, _jumps._ His heart does the thing where it’s convinced he’s in mortal danger and runs a mile a minute, adrenaline flooding his system in a completely unwarranted reaction. It leaves him trembling as he glares at the stupid, and ultimately _small_ creature now sitting in the corner on the wall, still above his bed.

Jackson jumps too, eyes shooting from Mark to the spider and back. “I’m sorry!” he yells, freezing. “I didn’t know it would do that, or that you- I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Mark grinds out. At this point, he’s just pissed at his own _useless_ fear. “It’s all fine. It just-” he sighs and shrugs, suddenly drained. “It freaks me out when they move. The legs, just-” he mimics them with his fingers, effectively giving himself the chills when he does it a bit _too_ well. How sad is he right now?

He snorts at himself, giddy in the face of dizzying and utterly _unwarranted_ fear swirling in his belly. Jackson is starting to look more and more confused. The poor guy barely knows Mark, and he’s already having to deal with Mark’s inability to cope with one of the most common creatures on the planet.

This can’t be good for their budding friendship. Fuck.

It’s the old rock-and-a-hard-place, only Mark will quite literally be unable to have a heartrate lower than 100 if he stays in this room with _it_ , and sleep is a thing that’s going to have to happen sooner rather than later. Meaning the spider needs to go. Meaning he simply needs to let Jackson, fearless and frigging _perfect_ Jackson, do his thing.

Mark takes a deep breath, balls his fists in his sweater, then nods once. “If you could put it outside, I’d really appreciate it.” He bites his lip right after, proud he was able to say that without a single waver in his voice. Jackson still looks skeptical.

“You’ll be okay?” he cautions. “You could always leave if-”

Mark’s already shaking his head, mirthless smile on his face. “That makes it way worse, trust me. Just- I’ll be okay, really. I’m not going to scream again.”

After a second, Jackson slowly nods. “Okaay.” He slowly puts his hands out, eyes leaving Mark and focusing on the spider. “So, it’s bad to have a spider on the wall, but it’s worse when they move?”

Mark nods moodily, hating how stupidly weak he feels. “Basically.”

Jackson nods as if it’s important information, then slowly kneels on Mark’s bed, seemingly doing his best to keep his shadow from suddenly falling on the spider. It registers in Mark’s brain that this room currently holds two twenty-year-olds and a _spider_ , and that the latter is controlling the former. He almost laughs, but Jackson’s face is the epitome of concentration. It’s endearing how much weight the younger holds to Mark’s words, treating the situation seriously instead of laughing at Mark for his ‘silly fear’. Gratitude doesn’t come close when Jackson carefully puts one hand underneath the spider, then pokes it at the top and quickly cups it completely in both hands. Mark still flinches when it moves, but it’s the bare minimum.

Jackson makes sure Mark sees nothing of what must be a mass of squirming legs inside his hands. Simply thinking about it causes shivers down Mark’s spine, so he quickly shoves the thought away.

Then Jackson blushes. “Uhm,” he looks guiltily at Mark. “Could you maybe open the window?”

Now Mark does laugh, jitters and adrenaline making the sound higher than normal as he shakes his head fondly. “Right,” he smiles, kneeling on Jackson’s bed with a bounce and stretching out a trembling hand. The window is right beside Jackson’s bed, something they’d decided because Jackson admitted on their first day that he sometimes needs the breeze in order to be able to sleep in summer. Without ever losing sight of Jackson’s hands holding the _thing,_ Mark snaps off the locks, then cracks it open. He crawls back immediately, hopping back to the floor and sweeping out a hand. “All yours.”

Some cool evening air seeps in, Jackson flashing a grateful smile before crawling onto his bed and sticking his hands outside. To Mark’s surprise, the other holds his arms flat against the outer wall, presumably letting the spider go gently. It lights a fire in Mark’s gut, something fuzzy and giddy to fight the shivers still running down his arms. When Jackson pulls his arms back in, closing the window, the spider is gone.

Mark smiles at him. “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Jackson promises, dropping to sit on his bed. “A phobia is no joke, and I wasn’t kidding when I said you were turning white.”

Which is a refreshing view after years of endless teasing and pranks from classmates. Mark nods his thank again, then jumps when something tickles his ear and he slaps a hand on it before he realizes it’s just his hair. Damn adrenaline jump-scares.

“It’s gone!” Jackson shoots forward, eyes wide as he leans on his bed. “I promise!”

“I know, I know,” Mark rushes to explain, dropping himself on his own bed after having checked every single corner of their room with his eyes. Jackson looks less than convinced, face concerned when Mark keeps craning his head to look everywhere.

“You don’t look like you do,” he says eventually, causing Mark to groan quietly when his anxiety forces him to check down the wall next to his bed. His cheeks flame even as he twists back to look, not daring to look Jackson in the eye when he turns back to the other. The wall is clear. Not a single spider in sight.

“The fear lingers,” Mark confesses. He feels Jackson deserves somewhat of an explanation, even when Mark mostly wants to crawl under his blankets and hide. “I need to check, basically everything, because the fear sorta stays for a while after,” he eyes the window and shudders, the spiderlegs nimbly crawling over the wall still fresh in his brain. He clears his throat. “I need to check to calm down. Which I will,” he promises Jackson’s sudden pout. “Eventually.”

The answer only makes Jackson pout more, something between cute and determined. It makes Mark want to reach out and touch his puffy cheek.

“So, spiders are bad,” Jackson ticks off on his fingers. “Moving spiders are worse, and it doesn’t get much better after they’re gone?” His expression is open and honest, enough for Mark to feel like his roommate isn’t judging in the slightest. He smiles and shrugs.

“I’m used to it.”

Jackson pouts again, now sitting cross-legged on his bed. “That sucks.”

“Yeah, I know,” Mark smiles. He pulls his legs up and wraps his arms around them, knowing he’ll be hypervigilant to anything moving in his peripheral vision or any tickling sensation for a while. “But still, I’m used to it.”

Which he truly is, he’d simply forgotten it was a thing. Now that he’s been reminded of the fact he _can’t_ deal with one of the simplest of creatures, he supposes it’s somewhat of a blessing his roommate isn’t a complete disaster around spiders like Mark. It might’ve friend-zoned Mark for life, but he’ll take what he can get.

As it turns out, that’s much more than he thought, because on two separate occasions Mark opens the door only to find Jackson quickly shutting the window and smiling angelically, while he also finds a surprising _lack_ of anything eight-legged in their dorm. Ever. (okay, so it’s more like a month, but there are spiders in almost every corner of the dorm building and even those numbers begin to dwindle drastically, especially in their hallway)

It takes a lot longer than it should have for Mark to connect the dots. When he does, he can’t stop smiling for an entire day, eventually coaxing Jackson into a pillow fight to conjure a smile to his roommate’s face.

Because, as Mark has come to realize, Jackson’s smile is really damn beautiful.


End file.
